John Howell

John Howell was a tax inspector, tax advisor and later partner at Ernst & Young. He was also a presenter for BBC World, producing a series of programmes dealing with Bangladesh. Howell was among the first western reporters to conduct a television interview with the first democratically-elected president of Mongolia. He has also authored two books on European culture and economics. Howell was a councillor from 2004 to 2009. In 2010, Howell was appointed PPS to Sir George Young, then leader of the House of Commons. He has been on the Justice Committee since 2014, previously serving on the Work and Pensions Committee. Howell has twice led UK business delegations to G7 meetings. He has chaired APPGs on the Thames, alternative dispute resolution, digital currencies and fusion energy. He is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel. In 2017, Howell was quoted by the Henley Standard as saying “My message to Boris is to keep his bloody mouth shut!” regarding the foreign secretary’s comments on the length of the Brexit transition period. In 2018, The Guardian reported that Howell said: “As far as I’m concerned Boris can just fuck off!” regarding his alleged interference with Theresa May’s leadership.